Good For a Laugh

R.I.P. Bobby Womack

1944-2014

Oh My God...we are losing some legends this year...The Great Soul Singer, Bobby Womack passed away yesterday...


Soul singer Bobby Womack has died, his record company, XL Recordings, confirmed. The cause of death at the time I am writing this is currently unknown.

The singer's career spanned seven decades and included '80s hit "If You Think You're Lonely Now."
Womack began his career in the early 1960s as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos. He was also Sam Cooke's backing guitarist.

In the late-60s, Womack went solo. In 1968, he signed with Minit Records and recorded his first solo album, "Fly Me To The Moon," which included his first major hit with a cover of The Mamas & The Papas' "California Dreamin'." He would go on to collaborate with music notables Gábor Szabó, George Benson, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin and Pearl.

He would later leave Minit and sign with United Artists where he released the album, "Communication." He would earn his first Top 40 hit, "That's the Way I Feel About Cha."

Bobby Womack's biggest commercial success would occur in the 1970s with back-to-back successful albums.

In the 80s, Bobby Womack's career was complicated by substance abuse. He would have kicked the problem and saw a resurgence in the 90s. During this time, he worked with Todd Rundgren and The Roots.

In 2010, Bobby Womack collaborated on the single, "Stylo," alongside Mos Def, from the third Gorillaz album, "Plastic Beach." 

A year earlier, in 2009, Bobby Womack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Here...I leave you with one of my favorite Bobby Womack jams..."Nobody wants you, when you're down and out."  So true...You were down Bobby, but never out!

Weekend Humor

A farmer ordered a high-tech milking machine. Since the equipment arrived when his wife was out of town, he decided to test it on himself first.

So, he inserted his "manhood" into the equipment, turned on the switch and everything else was automatic.

Soon, he realized that the equipment provided him with much more pleasure than his wife did. When the fun was over, though, he qu...ickly realized that he couldn't remove the instrument from his 'member'.

He read the manual but didn't find any useful information on how to disengage himself. He tried every button on the instrument, but still without success. Finally, he decided to call the supplier's

Customer Service Hot Line with his cell phone (Thank god for cell phones!).

"Hello, I just bought a milking machine from your company. It works fantastic, but how do I remove it from the cow's udder?"

"Don't worry," replied the customer service rep, "The machine will release automatically once it's collected two gallons. Have a nice day."

Everybody have a super groovy weekend!

He Can't Be Serious!

So let me get this straight...The Speaker of the House is going to sue the President of The United States...Are you serious? Is he serious...I heard this nonsense yesterday afternoon on the news,shortly after I got home from work...

In early December, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) appeared on a far-right radio talk show to talk up an odd idea: the United States was in the midst of a “Constitutional crisis,” the congressman said, making it necessary for a new lawsuit against President Obama.

 

As Coffman put it, the president wasn’t “going through Congress” to advance his agenda, so it was time to go to court. “I may have to do it,” he said at the time, “or somebody may have to do it.”

 

The far-right Coloradan never got around to explaining what in the world he was talking about, and for that matter, he never actually filed the lawsuit to address the “crisis” he perceived. But the silly idea appears to have slowly worked its way to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

 

Speaker of the House ,John Boehner announced yesterday that he plans to sue President Obama.....

 

Put a quarter in the meter and park your car right here and grasp that-

 

 
“I believe the president is not faithfully executing the laws of our country, and on behalf of the institution and our Constitution, standing up and fighting for this is in the best long-term interest of the Congress,” Boehner told reporters.

 

 

Asked specifically if he’s planning to initiate a lawsuit, the Speaker replied, “I am.”

 

I can think of some dangerous moves Speaker John Boehner has made since becoming Speaker, including threatening to trash the full faith and credit of the United States on purpose. I can also think of some reckless moves he’s made, including shutting down the government. I can even think of some irresponsible moves from the Speaker, including refusing to compromise on pretty much any and every area of public policy.

 

But I can’t think of anything quite as dumb from the last several years as this lawsuit.

 

Indeed, the Speaker himself couldn’t actually identify by name anything the president has done that warrants a legal challenge. Boehner is outraged byPresident Obama’s use of executive power. And what, pray tell, has offended the Speaker? He didn’t say.Of course not!  I'm sure he'll think of something en route to the actual lawsuit if there ever is one....And they say Kim Ill Jung is wacky!

 

I’m sure he’ll think of something to justify his lawsuit eventually, right?

 

If Speaker Boehner wants to go through the motions of this little charade, it’s tempting to think such antics are irrelevant – it’s not as if these little p.r. stunts will get in the way of Congress’ non-existent legislative agenda – but let’s not forget that the Speaker’s frivolous litigation will be at the public’s expense.

 

That’s right, the new Republican election-year gimmick will be paid for by you and me. ..but then isn't all of their stunts....Can I hear somebody say...Government shutdown???

This aint rocket science ,and it damn sure isn't complicated: if House Speaker Boehner had any evidence at all that the president’s actions were outside the law, he would have presented that evidence by now instead of rattling a weak saber.

 

Is this about executive orders? If so, President Obama’s actions are entirely in line with his all of his predecessors’ use of this tool that’s been around since the beginning of the republic. The only difference is, this president has used fewer executive orders than any president in over a century. That's right...Don't take my word...Look it up...Oh yeah that's not something people do in this day and age of the soundbite.

Funny thing, John Boehner used to like executive orders when Republican presidents made them.

Is this about executive actions? Literally nothing the president has done has even pushed the legal envelope. The right talks about shifted health care deadlines, but George W.Bush  did the same thing. The right complains about President Obama’s climate agenda, but the Supreme Court already cleared it. The right especially didn’t like the White House’s deferred action on Dream Act kids, but deferred action has been a standard move for plenty of previous administrations.

 

Complicating matters further, unless the Speaker’s office suddenly uncovers actual evidence of something interesting, the federal courts will probably have no interest in adjudicating a partisan tantrum launched at one branch of the federal government against another.

 

So if the likely lawsuit isn’t rooted in reality, substance, evidence, or law, what’s the point?

 

Hmmmm...Well part of this is likely the result of Republican frustration that it hasn’t stopped federal policymaking altogether. In practical terms, Boehner and other GOP lawmakers don’t just want to reject progress on areas such as civil rights, the economy, and the environment; they also want to stop the Obama administration from making progress, too. That's been the game plan all along.

 

What’s more, Republicans, lacking a policy agenda of their own and having no actual accomplishments in office, have become a little too obsessed with the notion that President Obama is an out-of-control tyrant hell bent on creating a socialistic dictatorship. John Boehner almost certainly realizes that his party’s rhetoric is demonstrably ridiculous, but he’s also apparently decided it’s too late to back down now.

 

Ultimately, though, I suspect the lawsuit is about posturing. It’s an election year and Republicans have an irrational hatred of the president. Fundraising letters need to be written, a right-wing base needs be riled up, and Fox News can only air so many Benghazi segments before their audience falls asleep.

 

And so John Boehner, unable to explain his motivations in even rudimentary terms, has decided it’s time for a new gambit: a taxpayer-financed lawsuit, challenging a president for daring to use presidential power while a do-nothing Congress twiddles its thumbs.

 

Wake me up when they actually come up with something tangible!

Thank You ,Negroes!

He survived!  Thanks in part to his successful ability to marshall traditional Democratic voters (ie-Black voters) Thad Cochran won his election last night....over his Tea Party backed challenger, Chris McDaniel..

Chris McDaniel, who had the backing of major outside conservative groups, originally appeared to have momentum going into Tuesday’s election. He and allies tried to paint Cochran as too attached to Washington’s federal coffers and out of touch with the state’s conservative voters, and he compared his own campaign to that of Tea Party heroes like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky’s Sen. Rand Paul.

       

But Thad Cochran got a last-minute influx of support from Republican establishment groups and high-profile surrogates like fellow senator John McCain of Arizona. Promising to keep bringing federal dollars to Mississippi, the senator’s campaign worked to appeal to voters outside the typical GOP electorate, including the state’s substantial African American Democratic population.

      

Some critics cried foul, including McDaniel, who called the strategy “unfortunate.”

Unfortunate for who?  

Chris McDaniel did not concede when he appeared before supporters Tuesday night, instead indicating his campaign had not yet ended.

      

"Before this race ends, we need to make sure the Republican primary was won by Republican voters," he said. Coded language for White voters.

      

The Tea Party favorite’s supporters, including outside groups like the Senate Conservatives Fund and FreedomWorks, sent volunteers to polling locations in the state to oversee voting and prevent those ineligible to vote from casting a ballot.
Coded language for Black voters!
      

National Democrats had been hoping for  Chris McDaniel – who made a series of controversial statements during his time as a radio host – to topple the long-time senator.

      

Even in the deeply conservative state, they believe they have a strong candidate in former Rep. Travis Childers, who could have exploited any potential missteps by the less experienced McDaniel.

 

Anyway...Thad Cochran held him off and although this is highly unlikely...He should ride around all of the highly Black populated areas and yell out- "THANK YOU NEGROES, FOR YOUR SUPPORT!"

 

That is not likely to happen, but it should!

Strange Roads

 

There is a saying...Politics does strange bedfellows make....I couldn't help but share this story that I read yesterday....

In Mississippi of all places...A white republican senator has found himself in the precarious position of having to do the unthinkable!!!! Court Black votes if he expects to ward off a Tea Party Candidate...Desperation does create strange partnerships!!

Inside an abandoned grocery store-turned-church here, a dozen black pastors gathered to discuss a seemingly impossible task: persuading their congregations to vote Republican next week.

“In tough times, you’ve got to do some unusual things,” said Bishop Ronnie C. Crudup Sr., a pastor of the New Horizon Church International in Jackson.

Unusual is an understatement. Mississippi, Yes, Mississippi ...That state of  Mississippi with its painful history of Jim Crow laws, may have the most racially polarized electorate in the country. Still, after all of these years.. Blacks make up a higher percentage of the electorate here than in any other state — 36 percent in 2012, according to exit polls. But Blacks in this sate are so (understandably) overwhelmingly Democratic that they remain nearly invisible in Republican politics, with just 2 percent participating in the Republican primary in 2012.

Now, with Thad Cochran, the state’s senior Republican senator, fighting political extinction in next Tuesday’s primary, his campaign is taking the unlikely step of trying to entice black voters to help decide the most high-profile Republican contest in the country.

Say it aint so...

“You’ve got to be willing to cross the line sometimes, and go over to some strange places for our interests,” Mr. Crudup said.

It is a risky strategy, and one that the Cochran campaign is sensitive about, given the conservative tilt of the Republican electorate here. But it may be the only path to victory left for Mr. Cochran, 76, whose four-decade career in Congress is imperiled by a Tea Party-backed challenger, Chris McDaniel.

After being narrowly edged out by Mr. McDaniel, 41, in the Republican primary this month, Mr. Cochran needs to expand the number of voters who will show up for the Republican runoff election, which is open to Mississippi residents of any party who did not vote in the Democratic primary.

The winner on Tuesday will face former Representative Travis Childers, a conservative Democrat, in November.

“We’ve got efforts reaching out to black voters in Mississippi who want to vote for Thad because they like what Thad is for,” said Austin Barbour, a Cochran campaign adviser. “Thad Cochran is someone who, even with his conservative message, represents all of Mississippi. He’s not some hostile screamer.”

Really? I wonder if Thad were leading in the polls would he darken the doors of any storefront in the Negro sections..? But that's just me...

Mr. Cochran had been a friend to Mississippi’s blacks during his six terms, Mr. Crudup said, and deserved African-American support in this difficult race. But the more powerful reason for blacks to turn out for Mr. Cochran may be his opponent, Mr. McDaniel. As a talk-show host, he has made racially tinged comments, suggesting he would not pay taxes if it meant supporting reparations for slavery, and using speech that some believe harks back to an earlier segregationist era.

Mr. McDaniel and his supporters portray Mr. Cochran’s effort as an act of desperation, but they are careful to criticize the senator for reaching out to Democrats rather than blacks. “The idea that he would have to reach out to liberal Democrats in an effort to save his candidacy just shows how far to the left he’s gone over the past 42 years,” said Mr. McDaniel, who has run an anti-Washington campaign fueled by Tea Party support.

When it was pointed out that the question was about African-American voters, he replied: “It has nothing to do with that — this is about liberal Democrats.”Of course.

The outreach campaign is taking many forms. The “super PAC” supporting Mr. Cochran, Mississippi Conservatives, is paying African-American leaders, including Mr. Crudup, to help lift black turnout on Tuesday, said Pete Perry, a Republican strategist here who is working for the group.

Why don't they reach out for Black votes and Black interests at other times???  Just askin...

 We’re working with a whole bunch of different folks, and Crudup is one of them,” said Mr. Perry, who declined to say exactly how much Mississippi Conservatives was paying to increase African-American turnout. But when asked whether it was in the five-figure range, he said “sure.”

Another group, All Citizens for Mississippi, paid for advertisements in two black-oriented Jackson newspapers highlighting Mr. Cochran’s work for African-Americans. The group lists Mr. Crudup’s church as its address

.

Mr. Cochran’s campaign said that while the senator was appealing to African-American voters, among other groups, the campaign itself was not paying black leaders for get-out-the-vote efforts. Mr. Cochran’s television commercials are not subtle about their intentions: Video clips of African-Americans interacting with the senator blanket the airwaves.

Some longtime political observers see the Cochran effort as quixotic, given the state’s historical voting trends, but there is evidence, at least anecdotally, of growing interest in the race among African-Americans.

Talamieka Brice, 33, a small-business owner in Ridgeland, was one of the few blacks in a crowd that turned out for a recent Cochran event in Jackson.

 She said she planned to vote for Mr. Cochran in Tuesday’s runoff — in part because Mr. McDaniel’s focus on “Mississippi values” worried her.

“Traditionally, things that have been associated with Mississippi values and what the state stands for are things that are not good for minorities,” she said. “That scares me.”

In Georgetown, a large black community in Jackson, Matthew Ratliff, 49, a UPS worker and Democrat, said Friday that he, too, intended to back Mr. Cochran.

“I know some of the things Thad has done for his community,” Mr. Ratliff said.

State Senator Willie Simmons, a black Democrat who represents a district in the Mississippi River Delta, is supporting the senator’s re-election, in part because Mr. Cochran has used his status as a senior member of the Appropriations Committee to provide federal money for health centers, historically black colleges and a new bridge across the river in the impoverished region.

“He did not have to ask me, I told him I was supporting him,” he said of the senator.

But the challenges of the strategy are obvious, too. While Mr. Cochran has received some African-American support in previous re-election bids, those ballots have been cast in the privacy of a general election voting booth. Walking into a polling place for a Republican primary is a different thing.

“Whether they can cross over from a traditional Democratic habit to vote one time for a Republican, I just don’t know,” said former Representative Mike Espy, a Democrat who in 1986 was the first African-American elected to Congress from Mississippi since Reconstruction.

And some black Democrats, like Robin Gordon of Indianola, have already voted in their own party’s primary this month, making them ineligible to participate on Tuesday. “I just wouldn’t want to see someone like McDaniel go to Washington,” Mr. Gordon said.

Longtime participants in Mississippi politics still seem a little bewildered by the idea that blacks could play a pivotal role in a Republican election in a state where the two political parties are divided by race.

“If someone had told me that it would, I’d tell them they were on something,” said Representative Bennie Thompson, a Democrat and Mississippi’s sole black member of Congress, who has served in elected office for 45 years.

Mr. Thompson, 66, whose district stretches from black neighborhoods here in the capital to the Delta in the west, noted that he is a Democrat and does not participate in Republican politics. But he made clear that he was not discouraging his supporters from backing the senator, saying that he feared the loss of clout if Mr. McDaniel were to prevail.

“Our state relies very heavily on the understanding that support from Washington is essential,” Mr. Thompson said. “For a person to run counter to that support is a threat to where we are now as a state. We can’t tax our people enough to make up for the difference. That’s what’s scaring people like me.”

What scares me is that this is even a serious consideration by any Blacks....In Politics...you do have to wander down some strange roads!

Keith's Favorite Quotes

Keith's Music Spotlight

Erica Campbell of the Gospel Duo "Mary Mary" has released a solo effort...I hope this single called appropriately "Help" Blesses your Sunday...

Say It Is So!

So you know I'm a big basketball fan right?  And now that the NBA season is over for this year and the San Antonio Spurs are once again NBA Champs....Every true fan's interest goes to what else....The draft?  My Sixers are in a good position...They have about five of six draft picks and lots and lots of cap space...They can rebuild either through the draft or through the acquisition of key free agents...

Two of my co-workers have been bantering with me all week about the possibility of Lebron James opting out of his final year contract with the Miami Heat and signing with the Philadelphia 76ers...

I didn't see this as even a remote possibility..In fact...Everytime one of the two guys have said this...I have laughed my head off....Until yesterday ,when one of my co-workers sent me an email link from Forbes Magazine...

I am going to share this link with you...Mind you, I still don't think it's likely...but then again....Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-

10 Reasons Why LeBron James Will Sign With The 76ers-

Congratulations to the Spurs for winning the NBA Finals – the best team won without a doubt. And while Tim Duncan celebrates his fifth parade, the aging Miami Heat and LeBron James remain the center of attention.
This was their last year as favorites to win the title and it’s clear the Heat are on the decline while other teams continue to rise. Not even Carmelo Anthony can save the Heat and so the question that everyone will be asking during the off-season is, “Will LeBron opt out of the final year of his contract?” But the question they should be asking is, “When LeBron opts out, which team will he sign with?” And that’s where the fun begins…but first, let’s dive a little deeper into LBJ’s psyche:

• LeBron the Mercenary: He’s willing to leave town to win. Whether you loved or hated him for leaving Cleveland, the truth is…he wasn’t going to win there. He carried the Cavs on his back for seven strong years before ultimately realizing that his clock was ticking and he needed to win some championships right away. At 29 years old, he’s got one more long term contract to sign in his prime and he’s gotta see the writing on the walls in Miami.

•LeBron the Billionaire: He’s on the record stating that his goal is to become a billion-dollar athlete. With investments in Liverpool FC, a $30 million pay day following Apple’s recent acquisition of Beats Electronics, and high praise from investment guru Warren Buffett, he’s well on his way. And while he’s guaranteed a max contract no matter where he goes, he’ll need to become “The King” of a bigger market than Miami for endorsement potential, jersey sales, and more.

•LeBron the Lonely: No matter where he ends up, he’ll do so with an entourage. Sure to be at the top of his list in deciding his next employer will be the team’s ability to sign one or two superstars to join him. After salary cap health, he’ll also look at things like supporting cast, coaching, the city itself, and fan power.


While “King James” undoubtedly has a team of trusted advisors discussing options, communicating with teams, and building packages for the almighty to study, his next “decision” will send him to Philly and here are 10 reasons why.

1. Salary Cap Space: With over $34 million in cap space, the Sixers may very well be in the best fiscal shape of any NBA team.
2. Young Nucleus: Reigning rookie of the year and 6’6 point guard, Michael Carter-Williams will happily rack up the assists with LeBron’s presence. And 6’11 big man (and projected #1 pick prior to his injury over a year ago) Nerlens Noel provides the rock behind the defense.
3. NBA Draft: The Sixers have the third and tenth overall picks in one of the strongest draft classes in years. Almost guaranteed to get Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker, either talent would mesh perfectly with LBJ. The tenth pick will add another specialist to the mix, like sharpshooter Doug McDermott or wing scorer Gary Harris.
4. Coaching Staff: Brett Brown’s mentor was Gregg Popovich, who not only beat the Heat in the finals this year, but also commands a ton of respect from James.
5. Franchise Leadership: Sixers CEO Scott Oneil was in the meetings when the Knicks tried to lure LeBron to New York three years ago, where he surely gained insight to his heart. And when forward-thinking General Manager Sam Hinkie came to Philadelphia last year, it was clear that the Sixers would embed their strategy into advanced analytics. And, while 22 of the 30 NBA teams have an analytics department, Hinkie sets his strategy apart by pointing out that the data he will be collecting is different from the current data used for player evaluation.
6. Philadelphia Loves Basketball: It’s been a rough few years for Sixers fans, but the city was a top 5 basketball town in terms of attendance when Iverson starred here. The Phillies are fading and the Flyers remain mediocre. That means the up-and-up Sixers could easily rival the Eagles for top of the town with LeBron.
7. America’s Next Big Tech Town? Philadelphia has seen major startup growth and millennials are flocking to the city to start businesses. The Comcast Innovation and Technology Center will be the third largest building in the U.S. and create thousands of jobs.
8. Star Power: Before being dubbed “The King,” LeBron’s favorite players (after Jordan) were Allen Iverson and Dr. J. What better ambassadors to provide a tour of the city and some cheesesteak tasting? Even Charles Barkley likes the idea and put his money where his mouth is when quoted, “If they sign LeBron James I would bet a million dollars within five years they might win the championship. I’m telling you they would be that good.”
9. Survivor’s Remorse: The title of a scripted TV show LeBron is producing for Starz, the story is based on two men from the streets who attain fame. Premiering this fall, the show isn’t based in LeBron’s hometown of Akron, it’s based in Philadelphia – his next town?
10. Facilities: The Sixers are breaking ground on a state-of-the-art training facility which is expected to be the biggest and best in the U.S upon completion in 2016.

After years of mediocrity, the Sixers are finally committed to building for the future. They built the right coaching staff, traded players, cut salaries, lost a ton of games, acquired draft picks, and pretty much cleaned house. Unlike other sports, the NBA Championship can be won with a few great players. Any team LeBron James plays for becomes an automatic contender. And over the next few years, no team – not the L.A. Lakers in the highly competitive Western Conference nor the salary-ridden New York Knicks – provides a better opportunity than the Philadelphia 76ers.

This is starting to make a lot more sense to me and now after reading this ...I don't think I'll be laughing when they talk about Lebron or Carmelo Anthony for that matter coming here to Philly to play...

Anything is Possible....These little things are what make life livable!  Stay Tuned!

Weekend Humor

Bob was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary.

 His wife was really pissed. She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE !!" 

The next morning he got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway. Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, brought the box back in the house. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale. 

Bob has been missing since Friday.


Everybody have a Super Groovy Weekend!

Juneteenth

I was a grown man, about 25 years old and visiting Texas for the first time when I heard about this holiday or day of rememberance that is observed by African-Americans all over the South and maybe in a few places in the Northeast where I'm from...

June 19 - Juneteenth or Emancipation Day is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the U.S. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. 

These slaves didn't realize that they'd actually been "Free" since 1863 when President Lincoln signed the Emancipation proclamation and deemed that all of the slaves held in the rebel states were technically free...

Of course there was no radio or telephone or television then and I doubt that newspapersfrom the North were getting through and of course the slave owners were not going to tell them,so they had no way of knowing...

There was no Facebook or Twitter either,so nobody could get a tweet orselfie from their cousin in New York or Philly asking them if they were "Free" yet...

President Obama's Blues

I can't imagine what goes through the President's head now of days...But I imagine...if I were him, he'd probably be glad that he has only two more years of this and that after his second term is over, he can quietly vanish into private life, like most ex-presidents do..

If you notice, Since he's been out of office, you don't see Former President George W. Bush making any speeches, endorsing any candidates or weighing in on anything of a political nature...

You see him at Baseball games, you see him taking up a hobby, painting and you see him with his grand-children...If you see him at all...

Being President of THIS country is a thankless job and I have to say it...I wouldn't want it...

Damned if you do, damned if you don't...Never being able to please anybody...

Recently ,the  percentage of Americans approving of President Barack Obama’s handling of foreign policy issues has dropped to the lowest level of his presidency as he faces multiple overseas challenges, including in Iraq, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Additionally, the public is evenly split on whether President Obama is a competent manager of the federal bureaucracy. And a majority of respondents – 54 percent – believe the term-limited president is no longer able to lead the country.

 

“This is a bad poll for President Obama, and not a good poll for anybody else,” said Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted the survey with Democrats Peter Hart and Fred Yang. If that makes any sense.

      

“Whether it’s [Vladimir] Putin, Ukraine, the VA hospitals, Bowe Bergdahl, the events have controlled Obama, rather than Obama having controlled the events,” Hart adds. “He may be winning the issues debate, but he’s losing the political debate, because they don’t see him as a leader.” Again,I say...if this makes any sense...

 

In all fairness, The poll was crafted before the instability in Iraq grabbed headlines, so it doesn’t contain questions on that subject. It also was conducted before the United States arrested a suspect in the 2012 attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya.

 

But it shows an American public that has grown dissatisfied with President Obama on foreign policy and national security decisions.

      

Just 37 percent approve of his handling of foreign policy, which is an all-time low in the survey, while 57 percent disapprove, an all-time high.

      

What’s more, by a 44 percent-to-30 percent margin, Americans disagree with the Obama administration’s decision to secure the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five imprisoned Taliban fighters.

 

Hooo boy!  I wonder what they would have been saying had he of done nothing and left the guy there?

 

And respondents are evenly divided if the details of Bergdahl’s disappearance from his base in Afghanistan matter in the U.S. decision to secure his release: 47 percent say the details matter, while 46 percent say they don’t.

      

President Obama’s overall approval rating in the poll is at 41 percent, down three points from April. That’s tied for his all-time low in the survey.

      

And his favorable-unfavorable rating is upside down (41 percent-45 percent) after being right-side up two months ago (44 percent-41 percent).

Perhaps most troubling for the president, 54 percent think he is unable to lead the country and get the job done, compared with 42 percent who believe he can.

 

These numbers put the Democratic Party at a clear disadvantage heading into November’s midterm elections, when a president’s job rating can often be predictive of the general outcome.

      

But, the pollsters say, Republicans also have perception problems that could limit their potential gains.

      

“We know more about the challenges facing President Obama in the next two years of his term than how this year’s congressional elections will play out in the next six months,” said Fred Yang, the Democratic pollster.

      

According to the survey, 45 percent of registered voters prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress, versus 43 percent who want a GOP-held one.

Thirty-four percent say their vote will be a signal of opposition to Obama, and 24 percent say it will be a signal of support; 41 percent say it won’t signal anything about the president.

Yet while President  Obama is unpopular in the poll, he looks like the homecoming king compared with the Republican Party.

      

Just 29 percent of respondents have a favorable view of the GOP, versus 45 percent who have an unfavorable view. (By comparison, the Democratic Party’s fav/unfav rating is 38 percent positive, 40 percent negative.)

 

Views of the Tea Party are even worse, with 22 percent seeing it in a favorable light and 41 percent in a negative one.

      

And one week after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his congressional primary to a Tea Party challenger, the NBC/WSJ poll finds a divided Republican Party.

      

A majority of Republicans who are Tea Party supporters (56 percent) say the Tea Party has too little influence inside the party, while a plurality of Republicans who aren’t supporters (41 percent) say it has too much influence.

 

If there is one pervasive theme from the poll, it’s dissatisfaction – with everyone in Washington.

      

Only 32 percent of voters say their member of Congress deserves to be re-elected, compared with 57 percent who want to give a new person a chance.

      

And just 25 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction.

This is the ninth-straight NBC/WSJ poll over the past year when 30 percent of the nation or less has had a positive attitude about the nation’s direction.

 

A friend of mine who I talk politics with said that if you go back and look...Every incumbant President faces numbers and shifts in popularity near the end of his last term..

 

Yeah,I guess...

 

For President Obama...Quiet dinners with Michelle and more time to laugh and play with his daughters, out of the public spotlight is looking real good about now!

A Regional Problem

I don't usually write about Philadelphia problems...I try to write on a national scale...but I was personally about to have a major problem on my commute to work tomorrow or today as you are reading this if the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Regional Rail lines strike, which began Saturday at midnight had continued...

Additional Cars, less parking than there already is and additional riders on the already taxed city bus and trolley and subway trains..Thank Goodness that the strike has ended as quick as it began.

Philadelphia area Passengers expressed relief Sunday that Philadelphia-area commuter trains were back on track after a one-day strike threatened to disrupt work schedules for tens of thousands of commuters in the coming week.

Employees ended their walkout after President Barack Obama appointed an emergency board to mediate the contract dispute between the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and two of its unions.
An arrivals-and-departures board showed all regional rails running on time late Sunday morning at Suburban Station in downtown Philadelphia, where Steve Bessler and his dad got off to catch the subway for a Father's Day outing to the Phillies game.

Steve Bessler, who also takes the train to his job during the week, said thinking about the potential commuting chaos on Monday "really did stress me for a while." His backup plan was to drive to the subway, whose lines weren't affected by the strike.

"I was dreading that because everyone else would have been doing the same thing," Bessler said.

The strike began after SEPTA failed to reach a new contract deal Friday with its engineers and electricians unions. It shut down 13 rail lines that carry about 60,000 passengers each weekday between Philadelphia and its suburbs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

About 400 workers walked off the job Saturday but were required by law to return after the creation of the emergency board. (We can thank President Obama for that board) Buses, subways and trolleys continued operating.

All striking employees reported for work Sunday except for one, whose absence might not be strike-related, said SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams.


Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen vice president Stephen Bruno said Sunday that the strike could have been avoided if SEPTA had agreed to their proposal or accepted binding arbitration.
SEPTA has said its offer is on par with what its other transit unions have accepted.

Engineers, whose contract expired in 2010, are seeking raises of at least 14.5 percent over five years, about 3 percentage points more than SEPTA has offered. A group of engineers outside Suburban Station said they were not allowed to comment.

Terry Gallagher, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said Obama's intervention was "what we were waiting for." Their contract expired in 2009.

President Obama created the three-member board at the request of Gov. Tom Corbett. Now, the parties will participate in hearings set for the week of June 23, and the board will issue its recommendation to the president by July 14, Williams said.

Steve Bessler said he hopes the stop-gap measure will provide enough time to find common ground and approve a new contract.

"Hopefully, the Band-Aid will be on long enough to allow this whole thing to heal," Bessler said.

Others agree. Marc Iwanowicz, 28, said his normal 45-minute train ride from Philadelphia to his job at a suburban sporting goods store took twice that long Saturday. He said he took a combination of subway and bus instead of the rails because a cab ride would have been too expensive.

Workers aren't allowed to strike while the emergency board is convened. If no resolution is reached, a second emergency board can be requested.

In March, President Obama appointed a second presidential emergency board to resolve a dispute between New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and a union representing workers with the Long Island Rail Road.

The last SEPTA regional rail strike, in 1983, lasted more than three months. Thank God and President Obama we avoided a situation like that!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Happy Father's day to every Father, Step-Father, Godfather, Grandfather and man that is making a difference in a child's life...I salute you!

Weekend Humor

A man is out shopping and discovers a new brand of Olympic condoms. Clearly impressed, he buys a pack.

Upon getting home he announces to his wife the purchase he just made.

“Olympic condoms?”, she blurts, “What makes them so special?”

“There are three colors”, he replies, “Gold, Silver and Bronze.”

“What color are you going to wear tonight?”, she asks cheekily.

“Gold of course”, says the man proudly.

The wife responds wryly, “Why don’t you wear Silver? It would be nice if you came second for a change.”

Everybody have a super groovy weekend!

R.I.P. Ruby Dee

1922-2014

We lost another giant today....The great actress and civil rights activist...Ruby Dee...She was 91.

There Is No Middle Ground

Eric Cantor....Let me tell you something my mother used to tell me....After every disappointment, after every failure, after every set back...My mother used to ask me...''Now what did you learn?" There was always a lesson to be learned from something wrong I did...She seemed to think so...She had this saying that if one of my mistakes wound up costing me money...That was a "bought lesson" and bought lessons were the best kind because if it cost you money....You weren't likely to do that again....

If there is a lesson for you here....It's the same lesson President Obama has learned...There is no middle ground...You can't sit on the fence.....You either have to be for something or against something...You can't always take short cuts....My mother often told me that too!

See,it wasn't enough for Republican primary voters in Virginia’s 7th District that their congressman, That's you, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, helped the GOP regroup after President Barack Obama took office; that you often played bad cop to House Speaker John Boehner’s good cop during the 2011 debt-ceiling standoff; or that over your career, you voted with your party close to 96 percent of the time.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

People have short memories and attention spans Eric...

What mattered,  was that you were starting to appear—at least to the nuts in the Tea Party hard core—ever so slightly more conciliatory after President Obama’s 2012 re-election, You “failed to realize that the nut cases in the Tea Party were still demanding total opposition, whether it worked or not, however it polled.”

And the takeaway for You Eric, after losing on Tuesday to Randolph-Macon College economics professor Dave Brat, (WHO???) is that the GOP’s Obama treatment—rebuffing any attempts at compromise—can be turned on anyone. Including the GOP’s No. 2 man in the House....Uh That would be You Eric!

Yeah, there were lots of reasons for your loss: Brat’s campaign charge that you were pushing “amnesty” for illegal immigrants; a failure to spot the populist wave coming at him; spending too much time on leadership duties, as opposed to your home district; and reports that hardly anyone—on either side of the aisle—liked you personally. Yeah, for real...

Right now, there’s no zero lower bound in movement conservatism, so no matter how far right a Republican goes, there’s always someone out there willing to holler “RINO” and take it one step further to the right—even if they’re running against someone like you, who is no one’s definition of liberal.

It’s about rejecting compromise or even the appearance of compromise. Look at President Obama.

When he was trying to get bipartisan support on health care reform in 2009, he threw over the public option for the individual mandate—a Republican plan—and still got no GOP votes for Obamacare.

After getting shellacked in the 2010 midterms, he agreed to extend the Bush-era cuts on top marginal income tax rates in exchange for repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and extended unemployment benefits.

 In 2011 he acquiesced to sequestration to avoid going over the fiscal cliff. President Obama gradually disenchanted many of his fellow Democrats, and for his trouble, Republicans labeled him a socialist.

Aint that a bitch?? You can't win sitting on the fence...There are no short cuts...There is no Middle Ground...You either be about something or be against it...My mother also told me...''Everybody is not going to like you and if they do...Then you're doing something wrong.."

Wisdom well shared!

The Enemy of My Enemy...

Make no mistake...I have never been a fan of Eric Cantor....I'm still not...and when I heard that he suffered a stunning primary loss...I was ecstatic with glee until I found out WHO he lost too..A Tea party supported candidate...

If I didn't like Eric Cantor...I certainly dislike the Tea Party and anybody that stands with them even less...In this case...Eric Cantor is not the better of two evils...He's evil, but yet another evil taking his place...

In the most stunning upset so far of this midterm season, the second-highest ranking Republican in the House of Representatives lost his party’s primary on Tuesday. Eric Cantor, the man seen as next-in-line to become House Speaker, was handily defeated by college professor Dave Brat. WHO???

It's extraordinary and damn near unheard of for an incumbant congressional leader to lose his or her primary race and, in this case, one of the big reasons for the upset was the highly charged issue of immigration.

Eric Cantor had previously supported a "Dream Act"-like proposal to provide a path to citizenship for children who were brought to the United States illegally. "One of the great founding principles of our country was that children would not be punished for the mistakes of their parents," Cantor said in a speech a year ago. "It is time to provide an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship for those who were brought to this country as children and who know no other home."

      

In his long-shot campaign,Dave  Brat attacked Cantor on that stance. "Eric Cantor is saying we should bring more folks into the country, increase the labor supply - and by doing so, lower wage rates for the working person," Dave Brat charged.

       

To protect his right flank on immigration, Eric Cantor sent out mailers saying he led the fight against President Obama's “amnesty” -- that is, comprehensive immigration reform that had passed the Senate a year ago.

 

I don't think the attack Obama card got him the knee jerk support he was hoping for this time. And as Tuesday's Virginia primary proved, that ultimately wasn't enough.

      

Before tonight's Tea Party victory, establishment Republicans had cruised to victory in many contests. In North Carolina, the Chamber of Commerce-backed Thom Tillis won the state's Senate GOP primary.

 

In Idaho, an establishment incumbent congressman defended his seat. And in Kentucky, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell easily defeated his Tea Party challenger.

      

But in Mississippi last week, Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., was forced into a June 24 runoff. And now the No.2-ranking House Republican goes down to defeat.

 

What is the world coming to huh?  There is a saying...The enemy of my enemy is my friend....Not in this case!

Let's Make A Deal

You probably don't know who this gentleman is in this photo do you? I can tell you one thing...He's not Eric Snowden....The reason why I mention Eric Snowden is because the man in that photo and Eric Snowden are both in the same predicament....Both are fugitives from the United States.....Both are presently granted asylum in a foreign country...Both want to come home.  Guess which one will probably come home one day to no charges?? Possibly Fanfare!!!  It Aint Pete O'Neal, the black man in the above photo...

Pete O'Neal was once the Chairman of the Black Panther Party in St. Louis ,Missouri....He was convicted in 1969 of transporting a shotgun over state lines...Rather than go to prison...He did what Eldridge Cleaver and a lot of Black Panthers did...He fled to Cuba , then Algiers and eventually Tanzania...Where he presently resides......

It's been 45 years...He wants to come home....He has a cousin....a cousin in the House of Represenatives...
And though his cousin, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), has exhausted all channels for a plea or clemency deal, you won’t be hearing about that coming to pass anytime soon.

In contrast...Let's look at Eric Snowden...

He is wanted for far more serious offenses....Can you say TREASON???

He is  a keyboard-tapping, suburban-raised white guy who gave away national secrets... The Washington Post's David Ignatius has said “If he came back and told everything he knows, then perhaps some accommodation could be reached.” It’s something that Snowden himself alluded to in his recent interview with NBC News’ Brian Williams, and it’s a “discussion” that National Security Agency Deputy Director Rick Ledgett suggested might be entertained when he was backed into it by zealous techies looking to shield Snowden from the clutches of embarrassed federal agents.

And if that plea deal ever happens, it'll be a little bit like the 15-month slap on the wrist that was handed out to Piper Kerman—the real-life memoirist on whose experiences the hit Netflix series Orange Is the New Black is based—especially when compared with the 24 years that a similarly situated black woman, Kemba Smith, got for pretty much the same crime. Piper Kerman got a TV show, and Oliver Stone just announced plans for a biopic about Eric  Snowden.

Hell, Kemba Smith can’t even get a Lifetime movie.  And nobody will be giving Pete O'Neal anything but a quick arrest and a quick stint to the penitentary if he ever sets foot on U.S. soil again...

No deals or statutes of limitations for former Black revolutionaires...or poor misguided Black women who unknowingly transport drugs over state lines for their no good boyfriends....But the man who gave away sensitive government secrets to a foreign power just might get a plea arrangement deal , a movie and who knows ...a television show based on his crime...

Tell me..What am I missing here, huh?

And Now A Message From Our Sponser.....

Weekend Humor

Have a Groovy Weekend Everyone!

Bowe, We Don't Know!

In what should be the feel good moment for all Americans...The release of a POW.....We now have a national firestorm brewing on the horizon....Not just whether President Obama violated the law by doing an end run around congress...but concerning the prisoner of war himself...Staff sergeant, Bowe Bergdahl...
Rumored to be a desserter..

Just who is he and what happened back in 2009?

Let's go back to June 30, 2009....I remember that day well...I bought my second car that day...I was helping the economy..but half a world away in Afghanistan...Bowe Bergdahl went missing..

Staff Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was reported missing at 9 a.m. Afghan time on June 30, 2009, after he failed to show up for the morning roll call. Less than nine hours later, just after 5:30 p.m., U.S. forces received intelligence that a soldier had been captured, the logs show. 

In the hours between, American forces mounted a furious search operation.

About half an hour after Bergdahl was reported missing, commanders ordered that “all vehicles, latrines, bunkers” be searched at his outpost. Predator drones and a team of tracking dogs were on the scene within hours. 

U.S. forces raided what were believed to be militant hideouts. F-15 fighter jets were called in for air cover.

“It’s a frantic search all day,” said retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, an NBC News military analyst. 

“Everything stopped, basically, and they focused on this mission. They yanked every asset that was someplace else and brought it in.” 

“It would have rung every bell,” he said. “I’ll bet you within three hours the (Defense Secretary) knew all about it and so did the White House war room.”

 Just after 2:30 p.m., communications traffic showed that “an American soldier with a camera is looking for someone who speaks English.”

A soldier who was a team leader in Bergdahl’s platoon, Sgt. Evan Buetow, told reporters that Sgt.Bergdahl, at some point in the days after he left his platoon, “was looking for someone who spoke English so he could talk to the Taliban.” 

Buetow said that the platoon was “incredibly worried” that Bergdahl was giving information to the enemy.

“I heard it straight from the interpreter’s lips as he heard it over the radio,” Buetow said. “And at that point it was like, this is, this kind of snowballing out of control a little bit, there’s a lot more to this story than just a soldier walking away.” 

Pentagon officials have said they cannot confirm that Sgt.Bergdahl was looking for the Taliban. Buetow did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday from media. 

 McCaffrey, the general, said that he was “99.999 percent” certain that the missing private sought out the Taliban, perhaps in an altered state of mind or with an altruistic thought toward helping Afghan children.

 “I think he was out there looking to contact the Taliban, figuring they’d help him, and got the shock of this life,” McCaffrey said. “You can see from this traffic. They almost killed him.”he said.

Indeed, on the following day, July 1, U.S. forces intercepted communications traffic in which an unidentified fighter says, “Cut the head off.”

That day, there was still no sign of the missing private. (Ironically,Bergdahl was promoted twice in captivity in later years, to sergeant.) But the war logs describe an American intercept of a conversation between two apparent militants, talking about the captive. 

“They know where he is, but they keep going to wrong area,” one says. The same apparent militant says later in the conversation: “I think he is big shot that [sic] why they are looking for him.”

On July 2, members of the American military met with Afghan elders who claimed to have been asked by the Taliban to negotiate a trade with Bowe Bergdahl.

“The Taliban terms are 15 of their Taliban brothers in U.S. jail and some money in exchange for Pvt. Bergdahl,” the logs say. “The elders assured me that Pvt. Bergdahl is alive and that he in [sic] not being harmed.”

After that exchange, the elders offer to connect the U.S. military with Bergdahl to demonstrate that he is unharmed, but the logs show that an American soldier “tried to get comms with no luck.”

Two days after that, on July 4, came the first reported sighting of a missing soldier in a nearby village: Bergdahl was reported to be wearing dark khaki, with a bag over his head, traveling in a black Toyota Corolla escorted by three to five motorcycles.

The tip failed to lead American forces to Bergdahl.

So Who is this guy really? Clearly turning out to be not quite what one would have hoped....A bonifide hero or even a sympathetic victim!

Obama's New Donnybrook

Republicans had just began to slow down their rhetoric about Benghazi and a imagined (in their minds only) cover up when this latest rallying cry for the right wing became available...The freeing of an American Prisoner of War held for five years in exchange for five Al Queda members...

I have to admit ...That doesn't sound like a fair trade to me...Five for one...But he was the only American POW in captivity...

Congress is angry because the President used Executive Priveledge and kind of did an end run around them and brokered the young man's freedom....They say he may have broken the law...

Can you imagine how long it would have taken him to be freed...If he ever would have ,had the President have waited for Congress to come to a decision?

I'm not saying I agree with The President going around Congress...but from the imprisoned man's standpoint...I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted to spend another day in captivity...

This soldier ,Bergdahl though does not come without his own baggage and controversy...

Robert Andrews believes his own son might still be alive if U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl had not gone missing from his Afghan guard post on June 30, 2009.

As Bergdahl emerges from five years of Taliban captivity, former comrades are accusing him of walking away from his unit and prompting a massive manhunt they say cost the lives of at least six fellow soldiers, including Andrews' 34-year-old son, Darryn, a second lieutenant.

“Basically, my son died unnecessarily, hunting for a guy that we shouldn’t even have been hunting for,” Andrews told Reuters.

The sense of pride expressed by Obama administration officials over Bergdahl’s release in exchange for five Taliban prisoners on Saturday is not shared by many of those who served alongside this guy in Afghanistan or the families of those said to have died trying to bring him back.

The U.S. military has not said how Bergdahl fell into the insurgents’ hands, but several of those from his unit say he became disillusioned with the war and abandoned his post during a nighttime guard shift, an act of desertion that would normally incur severe punishment.

"I think he wanted to get away from our side of the war," commented Greg Leatherman, who says he was in charge of Bergdahl’s unit the night he disappeared.

By contrast, Bergdahl's home town is treating him like a hero, planning a June 28 rally in support of him. Balloons, symbolic yellow ribbons and celebratory signs sprouted up in Hailey, Idaho, after the news of his release over the weekend.

Bob Bergdahl, fighting back tears as he appeared to address his son directly in a public appearance in Boise, Idaho, on Sunday, said he was proud of "your desire and your action to serve this country in a very difficult, long war."


Colonel Tim Marsano, of the Idaho National Guard, who acts as the Bergdahl family's media liaison, said they would have no comment on the accusations made by former soldiers and relatives of those who may have been killed in the hunt for him.

"The Bergdahls are aware of the current controversy, they have been for years, and they don't have anything to say about it," Marsano told Reuters on Monday.

Military officials have investigated Bergdahl’s disappearance but have never publicly offered an explanation, in part, they say, because they have not had a chance to question the man.
“We do not know the circumstances under which he left his base," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said. "What we're focused on now is getting him the care he needs.”

Another Defense Department spokesman, Colonel Steve Warren, declined to confirm reports from former soldiers that at least six of their comrades were lost in the long hunt for Bergdahl.
CHARGES UNLIKELY!

Neighbors in rural Idaho said Bergdahl was a bookish loner known as a good athlete with a penchant for long mountain hikes.

When he disappeared in Afghanistan, he did so quietly and left behind his flak jacket and heavy fighting equipment, according to online accounts by soldiers who served with him.

After Bergdahl failed to show up for roll call, U.S. officials picked up radio communication between Taliban insurgents who said “an American soldier with a camera is looking for someone who speaks English,” according to U.S. diplomatic cables.

Military officials have indicated that Bergdahl, who was flown to a military hospital in Germany over the weekend to undergo a full physical and mental assessment, is unlikely to face charges, whatever the army finds about his capture, because they believe he has suffered enough.

Others say he should be held accountable.

While Leatherman says he is glad to see Bergdahl home safe, he is blunt about the need for an investigation. “If a military court finds him guilty, then he should be punished accordingly.”

The terms of Bergdahl’s freedom also irk parents and soldiers, who question whether the release of five senior Taliban commanders accused in deadly attacks on U.S. forces is too high a price to pay.


“How many guys were killed capturing these Taliban, and then we just throw them loose? What are we doing negotiating with terrorists in the first place?” Andrews asked.
INTENSE MANHUNT

Bergdahl’s disappearance unleashed a massive air and ground search that lasted for weeks, exposing U.S. forces to Taliban attack and disrupting other operations, his former comrades say.
The attention showered on Bergdahl since his release has compounded their resentment over those who died during the lengthy search.

On September 4, 2009, a little over two months after Bergdahl went missing, Darryn Andrews was part of a patrol searching for him when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb and a rocket-propelled grenade in a district of Afghanistan’s southeastern Paktika province, near the Pakistan border, according to accounts of soldiers and their families.

Private First Class Matthew Martinek, 20, died in the same attack.

“This opens up the wounds again,” said Kenneth Luccioni, Martinek’s stepfather. “There were a lot of people who risked their lives for this young man, and we want the truth.”

He said he learned that his stepson had died hunting for Bergdahl not from the Pentagon but by word of mouth from fellow soldiers months afterwards.

The Pentagon's spokesman Warren said: "It’s impossible for me to confirm those reports.” He added: "From Washington D.C. to discuss specific casualties a half a decade ago in Afghanistan, we’re just not in a position to do that right now. And as you know, every mission has its own parameters. So I know there’s some names out there. We’ll look into them. But at this point we can’t confirm anything."

The army encouraged soldiers in Bergdahl’s unit to sign a non-disclosure agreement on the grounds that it could endanger his safety while in captivity, several soldiers said, but now that he is free some have begun to speak out.

“He walked away from his guard post while on duty,” said former Private First Class Jose Baggett, who served in Bergdahl’s company. “Then we lost men looking for him. I’m not saying he should not be back in America but he has done nothing heroic. The people who died looking for his dumb ass – they are the heroes.’'

I'm ex-Military...I tend to believe these guys who were with this man....You've got Benghazi....You've got the Vet Hospital scandal and now this...Just when you thought the President might take a deep breath...This one might not go away for a long time!